ercliderc: <Eyal: <Overall, I don't think Gelfand gained so much rating points from this tournament>>

with Gelfand being the top seed and with unrated tiebreak games as means to advance in this format mathematically it was somewhat expected for him to win the tourney according to his rating, without gaining points.

Eyal: Oh, I'm sure Gelfand hasn't any reason to be disappointed about it... In the 2007 World Cup, btw, both finalists (Kamsky and Shirov) reached the final with only one tiebreak on the way - and the final itself was decided without one. Here, including the final, Gelfand played tiebreaks 4 times and Pono 5.

HeMateMe: <returnoftheking:> Is Gashimov your 'wild card' pick? I think the other places are all determined, based on current Grand Prix points, and other factors. The organizers allowed themselves one wild card choice, to complete the field, must be +2700. Is Radjabov already in on Grand Prix points? I thought he would be the wild card, if he does not qualify through GP.

Eyal: It's going to be hosted by Azerbaijan, so the assumption is that since they have the right to pick the wild card, it would be an Azeri player. Radjabov hasn't qualified yet from the 2nd spot of the GP, but with one tournament to go he has the best chances (http://grandprix.fide.com/gp-standi... - note that the best 3 results out of 4 count).

visayanbraindoctor: We often forgot the past, even the recent past. In 1991, Gelfand at the age of 23 reached the Candidates Matches, beating Nikolic and losing only to Short who was then at his prime.

In the FIDE Candidates Matches of 1994-1995, Gelfand mowed down Adams and Kramnik. It took a Karpov to stop him in the Candidates finals.

As for the World Cup being gruelingly exhausting, yes it is. However, have there been even more trying Qualifiers in the past? Zurich 1953 had 30 rounds of classical chess and lasted more than a month!

I wonder how the top players on the World Cup would do in a tournament like Zurich. All the faint-hearted ones would probably end at the bottom due to lack of motivation, and perhaps also the early all-out attackers who have not learned to conserve their energy for the later rounds.

ashalpha: Gelfand seems to bring his best to any chance to win the World Championship. He placed joint second in Mexico, and did very well in the past Candidates. I think it is more a matter of motivation for an extremely able and solid player. He just cannot seem to mitivate himself sometimes for ordinary tournaments but a chance at the World Championship and he is interested again.

DUS: Yes, congratulations to GM Gelfand! This was a great victory, the final section was very interesting and against so strong opponent, Ruslan Ponomariov.

I read somewhere that Gelfand is of the same generation and not less talented than Anand and Ivanchuk, but he has been less lucky than the other two players. I am very glad now he had this great success.

virginmind: excellent gelfand...excellent job!
"i just like to play chess. therefore i work much" - isn't this the secret to any fullfillment in life? enjoying what you're doing, making a job of what you like, pushing hard to do best what you like. this is what brings us happiness. bravo gelfy.

whiteshark: "I have always said that the knockout system is not an ideal scheme. And I hope the system which is going to replace it will be a stepping stone to a fairer scheme of identifying the champion."

NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply.
Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous,
and 100% free--plus, it
entitles you to features otherwise unavailable.
Pick your username now and join the chessgames community!
If you already have an account, you should
login now.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.

No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts.

No personal attacks against other members.

Nothing in violation of United States law.

No posting personal information of members.

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator.

NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page.
This forum is for this specific tournament and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or
this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages
posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.